Travelling to foreign destinations during the festive season has lately become a popular trend among Nepalis. This year too, thousands of Nepali tourists are packing their bags for various international destinations for Dashain and Tihar holidays.

The October-November period is the peak season for Nepali outbound tourism as hordes of holidaymakers travel abroad making the use of the year’s longest holiday.

Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are the hotspots for Nepali middle-income tourists, while the upper-income group prefer Dubai, Mauritius, China and Europe.

Tour operators are offering low-cost packages to fly to international destinations, resulting in a robust growth in the number of outbound Nepali tourists.

The outbound segment suffered a lot last year as a large number of vacationers had to shelve their trips due to a series of misfortunes. “But the business has rebounded now,” said Neeli Shah, outbound head of Sahayatri Holidays. “Outbound travel business that went flat last year is likely to see a good recovery. The outbound package sales trend looks quite optimistic this year.”

Shah said there has been a rise in the sales of Paris-Switzerland-Italy packages as well this year. A week-long Europe tour package costs Rs195,000.

Sahayatri Holidays has been handling 600-650 outbound annually, with the festive period accounting for more than 250.

Sudatta Rajbhandari, tour officer at President Group of Companies, said despite crises, the company did exceptionally well in the outbound segment last year. “The same trend is expected to be continued this year too.”

The company has sold more than 100 Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore trips for this holiday season. 

Economy Packages

Until a few years ago, foreign vacation trips were limited to the rich and business executives. In recent years, a large number of middle-class people have also started going abroad to enjoy their holidays, thanks to affordable travel packages and easy visa processing.

Hari Man Lama, chairman of Incentive Group of Companies and general sales agent of Air Asia X, said Nepalis are travelling more and staying away for longer periods.

“A growing middle-class has helped develop holiday culture,” he said. “And, affordable travel packages are the driving factor.”

Nepali tour operators said tour packages for Thailand have dropped sharply due to competition from other Southeast Asian countries. A 4-night, 5-day package at a three-star hotel in Thailand that used to cost $135 (excluding airfare) is now available at $115 or less, said Shah. According to the Department of Tourism Thailand statistics, Nepali tourist numbers to Thailand jumped significantly by over 40 percent to 23,144 in the first seven months of 2016. Last year, 32,678 Nepalis visited the land of white elephants. In 2014, the numbers were 25,887.

The statistics show average spending of a Nepali in Thailand is Rs15,006 per day—almost double the amount a foreign tourist spends in Nepal.

Emerging Bali

After Indonesia adopted “Visa Free Entry” scheme to boost tourism, its positive impact has been felt on Nepali outbound. Nepali tour operators said Bali has emerged as a key destination for Nepalis after Thailand, largely due to affordable packages.

“Obviously, a Bali package is reasonably priced. Now, hoards of Nepalis have started to visit the island known for its forested volcanic mountains,” said Lama. A 5-night, 6-day package at a three-star hotel in Bali starts from Rs65,000 (including airfare).

Besides, the Philippines is also emerging as one of the preferred destinations for Nepalis. A 4-night, 5-day package cost Rs85,000-90,000, inclusive of airfare.  

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, there were 27,679 Nepali vacationers going abroad in 2009 and 21,899 in 2008.

The number rose to 29,904 in 2010, and Nepali departures for holiday jumped to 32,063 in 2011. Outbound travel rose 22.47 percent to 39,269 departures in 2012, but dropped to 32,696 in 2013.